The relationship between transpiration and nutrient uptake in wheat changes under elevated atmospheric CO2

Abstract

The impact of elevated [CO₂ ] (e[CO₂ ]) on crops often includes a decrease in their nutrient concentrations where reduced transpiration-driven mass flow of nutrients has been suggested to play a role. We used two independent approaches, a free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) experiment in the South Eastern wheat belt of Australia and a simulation study employing the agricultural production systems simulator (APSIM), to show that transpiration (mm) and nutrient uptake (g m^-2 ) of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and manganese (Mn) in wheat are correlated under e[CO₂ ], but that nutrient uptake per unit water transpired is higher under e[CO₂ ] than under ambient [CO₂ ] (a[CO₂ ]). This result suggests that transpiration-driven mass flow of nutrients contributes to decreases in nutrient concentrations under e[CO₂ ], but cannot solely explain the overall decline.